Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul

"In the time of Galileo it was argued that the texts, 'And the sun stood still ... and hasted not to go down about a whole day' (Joshua x. 13) and 'He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not move at any time' (Psalm cv. 5) were an adequate refutation of the Copernican theory." Alan Turing, Computing Machinery and Intelligence, Mind 59 (1950), 443. Pulitzer Prize winning Ed Humes delivers this comprehensive review of 2005's Dover, Pennsylvania controversial trial, Kitzmiller. vs. Dover Area School District. You may think you know this controversy, but you'll never get a more thorough and up-to-date treatment of the Dover trial than this. You may be as surprised at some of the newest developments as I was. This is one of the latest episodes of the seemingly never-ending struggle for the hearts and minds of public school students between those who feel that Science describes nature pretty well and those who believe that anything other than a strict literal interpretation of the Bible deserves a trip to hell and excommunication from polite society. It is my personal opinion that those who ridicule the scientific method and mock Darwin's work while refusing to read it, do not deserve to benefit from the fruits of science (such as a computer and the internet), much less influence science curriculum in public schools. Ed Humes didn't go as far as I just did in his book, but you'd think he did from all the whining I've read about it in forums dedicated to the subject. It's enough to make you miss the Cold War. I still remember how Math and Science were emphasized if only to remind us that we needed to compete with the Soviets. I'm thinking it kept some of this sort of nonsense out of Science Ed. I was in AP Biology in 1988, in Midland, Texas, where fundamentalists feel right at home. In fact, many kids and teachers openly carried Bibles with them at all times, and didn't hesitate to talk about it. At the time, our Biology teacher gave us the little speech prepared to soothe those who feel that their religious beliefs clash with the teachings of Biology in public schools. He told us that the textbook had nothing to do with the origins of life, nor the descent of mankind and other primates from a common ancestor. He also told us something that I still believe to this day. He said that the question of "How" belongs to Science, and that the question of "Why" belongs to Religion. He also said that while he was not going to talk to us about religion at all (not his job as a Biology teacher) he himself had very strong religious beliefs and did not find them to be in conflict with what he taught. He told us that if any of us found any of our beliefs in conflict with the content of the class we could feel free to discuss it with our parents, and with him after class. Until reading this book, I assumed that all but the most extreme religious fundamentalists were fine with this truce-for many years public school biology books limited discussi

In Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Edward Humes produces what I am certain will prove to be one of the defining accounts of the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial of 2005. Rather than produce an obtuse recitation of facts, Humes really manages to breathe life into the personalities the rest of us only heard about via the newspapers, the television, and the Internet. From Tammy Kitzmiller, a mother from the Dover area and the namesake plaintiff of the lawsuit, to William "Bill" Buckingham, a former police-officer turned community volunteer and activist after a terrible back injury forced him to leave the police force, they all come to life as living, breathing, thinking and feeling people. Ultimately, while it is quite clear that Humes comes down firmly on the side of John E. Jones III and those who opposed the teaching of Intelligent Design, he nonetheless manages to portray those who did not in a human light. While this certainly won't be the last book on this landmark case, the information contained inside of it shall prove an invaluable tool in the fight to keep concepts such as Intelligent Design out of places they do not belong.

This book is simply breathtaking. The Dover trial, in the mind of the public, has already lost its true details and has become little more than a rallying cry for polemicists on both side of the 'evolution war'. Humes strips away the misinformation and the sensationalism and erects in their place a well researched picture of human beings with families, goals and principles, all trying to do what is right. Despite Humes bending over backwards to portray the full complexity of the school board members, they do not come out of this looking good - their frailties, arrogance and mendacity are on display for all to see and judge. Humes, however, successfully avoids turning them into caricatures of ignorance and backwardness - something other commentators have not been so successful with. Other areas in which the book excels are its presentation of background details such as other trials and related controversies, its coverage of the science (showing an ability all too lacking in modern journalism - the ability to follow an argument from beginning to end) and its portrayal of the litigants, the legal team and Judge Jones who, along with Kitzmiller et al, certainly earns the title of hero in this book. One review has claimed that Humes was biased, based on statements like this: "Jones concluded -- correctly -- that the evidence in favour of evolution is convincing and compelling, and that the counterarguments are far less so" (page 340) . . . . . . "Arguably, evolution has been more rigorously tested, and enjoys more evidence in its support, than any other theory in the history of science." (page 346) Let us be clear - following evidence is not bias. Ignoring evidence while hiding behind claims of objectivity and fairness IS bias. If there is a bias in this extremely well written (despite its occasional typo) book then that bias is towards true investigation - true in the sense that one is willing to follow where the evidence leads and be convinced. This book is an excellent account of 'the' trial of the decade and a great primer on the truth behind creationism's latest mask, Intelligent Design.

It appears that the "culture wars" are playing out even in these reviews, and it doesn't seem likely that we'll get any neutral observations. I wonder if people who gave it poor reviews even read it. To my mind, "Monkey Girl" is about as fair to both sides as you can get,... but the trial was a slam-dunk, after all. If you read the book without any pre-conceived ideas, I think you'll be amazed at how sympathetic - and how understandable - the author really is. More importantly, perhaps, the writing is superb. I have rarely read a non-fiction book that kept my attention as well as this one. Honestly, I could not put it down. It covers not just the famous Kitzmiller v. Dover trial, but the situation leading up to the trial, including background on the entire evolution-creationism war. I learned a great deal from the book, while being even more greatly entertained by it. If you're interested at all in our public schools, I strongly recommend this book. If you're on a school board, you NEED to read this book. Frankly, I think that nearly everyone should read it, simply because it explains the whole controversy so well - and explains the science, the history, and the politics behind it - while being such a darn good read. It WILL keep your attention. Highly recommended!

Ed Humes has written a detailed, insightful, and even gripping account of the "intelligent design" (ID)case from Dover, Pennsylvania, which ended in December 2005 with a judicial ruling that ID was a thinly disguised form of Biblical creationism and could not be taught in Dover's ninth-grade biology classes. As the author of a forthcoming book (Viking, May 17) on five recent legal cases that challenged religious symbols and practices in public parks, courthouses, and schools (God on Trial: Dispatches From America's Religious Battlefields), I included a chapter on the Dover case, and read the entire 6,000 pages of testimony in that trial. Ed Humes has made that trial come to life, with perceptive portraits of all the participants: plaintiffs, defendants, expert witnesses on both sides, and the federal judge, John E. Jones III, a Republican appointee of President Bush, who presided with amazing fairness and flashes of humor. Having recently visited Dover and talked with people on both sides of the cases, I can attest that Humes has given Dover's residents a chance to express their divergent views without bias. There are few books tht match Monkey Girl in putting human faces on deep-rooted conflicts over religious values and scientific issues. The conflict over teaching evolution in public schools goes back to the famous Scopes "Monkey Trial" in 1925, and has still not ended, despite a series of judicial rulings that creationism in any form is a religious doctrine that does not belong in science classes. The opponents of evolution are well-funded and determined, but the Dover case inflicted a blow from which they might not recover. Anyone concerned about this issue will profit from reading Humes's fascinating book.